Business

Sales of the national savings certificates and bonds dropped by 9.51 per cent in the first half of this fiscal year compared with that in the same period of the FY 2012-13. The savings instruments worth Tk 10,458.89 crore were sold through banks, national savings bureaus and post offices in July-December of the

The prices of vegetables and imported onion went up on the retail markets in the city over the week ending Friday. Traders said the prices of some vegetables increased as the season of the items was at an end. The price of imported onion increased slightly over the week as traders decreased the volume of import of ... Read more

The government is going to launch the second phase learning and earning programme at upazilas to create 55,000 freelancers at the grassroots level in the middle of February, information and communication technology secretary NI Khan said. Talking to the news agency, he said of the total number of freelancers 20,000 would be women who will also ... Read more

Sanjiv Mehta, executive vice-president of Unilever South Asia, and managing director and chief executive officer of Hindustan Unilever Limited, arrives in Dhaka today on a four-day visit. During his stay in Dhaka, he will meet UBL leadership team and managers to discuss the plans for the company in 2014. Mehta had formerly been a part

Retailers-telcos nexus alleged Retailers allegedly in association with the country’s mobile phone companies are selling pre-activated subscriber identification module cards in the capital, violating laws. Stores across the Dhaka city were found selling pre-activated SIM cards and retailers there do not demand any documents although proper

The default loans in the agriculture sector increased by 28.79 per cent as of December 31, 2013 from that of the same month in 2012 as the farmers failed to repay their loans for not getting fair prices of their products due to a supply chain disruption amid political unrest. According to the latest BB ... Read more

The monetary policy statements declared by Bangladesh Bank for next six months have no directives on reduction of high bank interest rate, the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday observed. Commenting on MPS for January-June period declared on Monday, FBCCI said that higher bank interest rate kept adverse impact of

FBCCI seeks proposals from chambers, associations The National Board of Revenue has started groundwork to formulate the revenue budget for the coming fiscal year of 2014-15 and sought proposals from its field offices in this regard, officials of the revenue board said. NBR field offices have been requested to send their proposals by February, they said. On ... Read more

Unsettled Loans Sonali opposes Keya cos’ amalgamation process Sonali Bank has opposed a proposed amalgamation process of Keya Cosmetics Limited with its three other associate companies — Keya Knit Composite Limited, Keya Cotton Mills Limited and Keya Spinning Mills Limited — due to unsettled loans with different bank. The state-owned bank’s letter sent to Bangladesh

Dhaka stocks ended flat on Thursday, the last trading session of the week, with an increased turnover. The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, closed at 4,753.17 points, adding 0.09 per cent or 4.65 points. The blue-chip index of the bourse, DS30, declined by 0.15 per cent, or 2.60 points, to close at 1,660.35 points. Shariah ... Read more

Shariah Index Islamic cos show keen interest to invest: DSE president Leading Islamic banks, non-bank financial institutions and insurance companies at a meeting with the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Thursday expressed keen interest in the Shariah index, DSE president Ahsanul Islam Titu said after the meeting held at the DSE office in the city. The ... Read more

International Tender In Bangladesh Local cos to get VAT exemption for goods supply, services The National Board of Revenue has granted exemption of value-added tax to local companies participating in international tenders for supplying goods and services inside the country to increase competitiveness of local bidding firms and save foreign currency, officials said. The revenue ... Read more

Finance minister AMA Muhith on Wednesday said the government would bring seven districts of the seven divisions under the zila (district) budget in the next financial year. The districts will be brought under the district budget as part of the government policy to decentralise the annual budget, said Muhith at a meeting

Set to widen control of open market operation Bangladesh Bank will take part in the secondary bond market on a regular basis as part of its open market operation in a bid to encourage the financial institutions and the individual clients to invest in the government securities, said officials of the central bank. The banks, ... Read more

Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority member Fazlul Karim was made acting chairman of the regulatory body as the tenure of M Shefaq Ahmed expired on January 26. Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the finance ministry issued a circular on Wednesday in this regard. The tenure of Nurul Islam Mollah, who was

Revenue collection by the National Board of Revenue grew by only 12.20 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2013-2014 compared with the same period of the last fiscal year, according to the latest data of the NBR. The data released on Wednesday showed that the revenue board could collect Tk ... Read more

Dhaka stocks advanced on Wednesday after decline in the previous two trading sessions with increased turnover due to investors’ increased participation as they found nothing negative in the monetary policy for the capital market. The benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSEX, increased at 4,748.51 points, adding 0.89 per cent or 41.97 points.

Payment Dispute Guidelines for sweater factory workers in offing The government is going to formulate a set of guidelines for the sweater factory workers to resolve the prevailing disputes over payment in piece-rate basis. At the first meeting of a labour ministry sub-committee to identify the wage-related problems of sweater factory workers on Tuesday, the ... Read more

The government will hold a meeting with the foreign buyers of Bangladesh readymade garments to restore their confidence that has been dashed due to the prolonged political unrest and two major factory disasters. The garment sector leaders said that commerce minister Tofail Ahmed is likely to sit with the Buyers Forum on February 3 at a ... Read more

Fatca Implementation Banks, NBFIs spurred to sign deal with US IRS by July 1 to avoid penalty The country’s scheduled banks and non-bank financial institutions will have to sign agreements with the United States’ Internal Revenue Service by July 1 this year to avoid giving 30 per cent withholding tax on their income in US, ... Read more